Slim FitzGerald was born and raised in a rural area of California. She developed an early love of reading and appreciation for literature thanks to her father’s private library of more than 10,000 volumes. This love of reading soon translated into a love of writing, and Slim began weaving poetry and short stories from a young age.

A fundamentally self-made man, Slim’s father was instrumental in inculcating her with values of self-reliance, perseverance, imagination, and critical thinking.

To this day, in addition to writing, Slim enjoys a wide range of interests in the arts; including painting, sculpting, culinary arts, photography, cinema, and music. She is also a lover of philosophy and history, and an eager student of language.

Education:

Fata Morgana Home School, 1995-2005 – A private home-school founded by Slim’s father on her behalf to ensure a firm grounding in both academic endeavors as well as hands-on pursuits not normally available in a school setting; such as woodworking, automotive-mechanics, and aviation.

Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, 2005 – As a participant in the early administration of the SAT to 7th and 8th graders. Slim scored in the 95th percentile, nation-wide, of participants in the program.

Thomas Aquinas College, 2006-2009 – A college dedicated to preserving and perpetuating the rigor and integrity of Catholic liberal arts and classical education. Their sole curriculum, the Great Books Program, is focused on exposing students to the greatest minds of Western Civilization in their own words. Rather than textbooks, students enjoy full immersion in works from such thinkers as Homer, Aristotle, Dante, Descartes — and, of course, St. Thomas Aquinas.

Slim matriculated at the age of 16 and, while there, joined the campus writing club and enjoyed participation in many poetry readings and contests.

In 2009, financial concerns forced Slim to leave TAC at the conclusion of her junior year.

From 2009 to present, Slim has continued her education and artistic enrichment by following the autodidactic habits she was raised in, using such resources as The Teaching Company’s Video Lecture Series, MIT’s OpenCourseWare, and interactive online courses and workshops such as the NovoEd sponsored MOOC ‘How Writers Write Fiction 2015’ from the University of Iowa.

Work:

Tractor Work Plus, 2003-2006. Slim’s first experiences in the work-force began at the age of 13, employed at her father’s landscape/salvage business. Her job description extended to several functions in the business, from secretary to tractor operator.

At the age of 14, Slim also began work as a private tutor for younger, grade-school kids in her neighborhood (many of whom children of her father’s clients). She continued this enterprise through the years of her college career.

Clavis Magister Instructional, 2009-present. Around the time she left TAC, Slim met John FitzGerald, founder of Clavis Magister; a private tutoring business. He hired her on as a partner. Soon after, they fell in love and were married.

Slim continues to tutor K-12, while devoting herself in her role as a mother of two small boys, whom she homeschools.

Writing, both poetry and prose, remains dear to her heart and she is currently immersed in several projects, including a fantasy novel.